DEAR MISS MANNERS: I’m a 28-year-old woman in a middle-management position. I catch myself referring to my team as “guys,” though they’re not all male, such as “Morning, guys” or “I was talking to the guys earlier.”
I worry this could be offensive and want to break the habit. Any advice?
GENTLE READER: Try harder. Miss Manners assures you it will be worth it to stop annoying your female colleagues.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I work in an office where my duties include taking phone calls from customers. Over the last couple of years, I have noticed that more and more people are using speakerphone to conduct calls with us.
For some people, this is a very useful tool. For example, for the last few months my aunt was alive, she didn’t have the strength to hold a phone anymore. But for most people, the speakerphone is a convenience rather than a necessity.
The problem that my co-workers and I experience is that sound is amplified a great deal when using a speakerphone. Someone setting a pan on the counter sounds like someone slamming a pan down instead. A dog walking into a room sounds like a herd of elephants. A door being closed sounds like it is being slammed.
This background noise often makes conversation difficult: It drowns out the person we are speaking to, and we often have to repeat ourselves or ask them to repeat themselves. Also, a full day of repeated calls like this will often give us headaches.
Do you have a humorous response to someone using a speakerphone to indicate that it is interfering with our ability to conduct business?
GENTLE READER: You did not mention your line of work, but “May I interest you in some headphones?” comes to mind.
In lieu of that, Miss Manners suggests you tell your customers conspiratorially that they may want to locate a pair so that they are not overheard by others. Although they may then be distracted by wondering what about your conversation is secret.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: My wife clips her fingernails in various places, including in the car. The locations I want to ask about are the dining room table and the kitchen island.
Though she tries to be careful and does not clip at mealtime or food preparation time, periodically I will find the odd clipping that got away.
Is her habit OK? If so, I will not bother to broach the subject.
GENTLE READER: If it is not OK with you, then it is not OK. Just be sure that you tell your wife politely.
Miss Manners is curious why your wife seems to have picked every location except the bathroom to trim her nails.
No doubt you have suggested it, but perhaps it is worth mentioning again -- along with a present of a tiny brush and dustpan. Because even in the bathroom, nail clippings are unsightly. And distinctively painful when stepped on.